Computerized vehicle control system for fleet routing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10528062-B2
Application number	US-201715456178-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 10, 2017
Priority date	Jun 15, 2012
Publication date	Jan 7, 2020
Grant date	Jan 7, 2020

Abstract

A computerized vehicle control system for fleet routing includes a fleet of vehicles where each vehicle in the fleet of vehicles is configured to travel over streets and including an engine and wheels. Each vehicle further includes an in-vehicle electronic device comprising digital logic circuitry and a port configured to couple with a vehicle computer installed in the vehicle and in communication with a plurality of sensors disposed about the vehicle. The in-vehicle electronic device further comprises a display. The computerized vehicle control system further includes a vehicle management system comprising memory and computer hardware and configured to communicate over a network with each in-vehicle electronic device in the fleet of vehicles.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computerized vehicle control system for fleet routing, the computerized vehicle control system comprising:
a fleet of vehicles, each vehicle in the fleet of vehicles configured to travel over streets and including an engine and wheels, each vehicle further including an in-vehicle electronic device comprising digital logic circuitry and a port configured to couple with a vehicle computer installed in the vehicle and in communication with a plurality of sensors disposed about the vehicle, the in-vehicle electronic device further comprising a display; and
a vehicle management system comprising memory and computer hardware and configured to communicate over a network with each in-vehicle electronic device in the fleet of vehicles, wherein the computer hardware is configured to:
access stop data representing a plurality of stops for one or more vehicles in the fleet of vehicles;
generate and output a user interface that facilitates user management of constraints associated with one or more of the following: the one or more vehicles, one or more vehicle drivers, policies of an organization associated with the fleet of vehicles, and one or more customers associated with the plurality of stops;
receive via the user interface, a user input associated with the constraints;
adjust the constraints based on the user input;
calculate proposed routes between the plurality of stops on a network of the streets in a geographic region;
evaluate the proposed routes based on a degree to which the proposed routes satisfy the constraints;
penalize the proposed routes based on the degree to which the proposed routes do not satisfy the constraints without excluding a first subset of the proposed routes that violate one or more of the constraints;
select a second subset of the proposed routes to be selected routes based at least in part on said evaluating; output the selected routes to a selected in-vehicle electronic device to display on the display associated with the selected in-vehicle electronic device; and
output a real-time suggested driving route modification to the selected routes based on traffic or weather conditions to the display;
wherein the computer hardware is further configured to apply a higher penalty to a first one of the proposed routes that exceeds a first one of the constraints by a first amount than a second one of the proposed routes that exceeds the first one of the constraints by a second amount less than the first amount.

2. The computerized vehicle control system of claim 1 wherein the computer hardware is further configured to penalize first and second proposed routes of the proposed routes at different rates based on a type of constraints being violated by the first and second proposed routes.

3. The computerized vehicle control system of claim 2 wherein a first constraint of the constraints is associated with a weightier first penalty for exceeding the first constraint than a second penalty associated with exceeding a second constraint of the constraints.

4. The computerized vehicle control system of claim 1 wherein the computer hardware is further configured to allow company policy constraints and customer constraints to be violated.

5. The computerized vehicle control system of claim 1 wherein the computer hardware is further configured to prioritize the constraints associated with the one or more customers over the constraints associated with the policies of the organization, and to adjust penalties, based on said prioritizing, for violating the constraints associated with the policies of the organization and the constraints associated with the one or more customers.

6. The computerized vehicle control system of claim 1 wherein the computer hardware is further configured to prioritize a first customer constraint over a second customer constraint from a same customer based on a degree of importance of the first and second customer constraints as specified by the customer.

Assignees

• Telogis Inc
• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Looman William George
• Hidayat Jefferson Ray Tan
• Kok Katherine Winnie
• Dunlop Mark Robert

Classifications

• G06Q10/08355 Primary

  Routing methods · CPC title

• G08G1/096866

  where the complete route is shown to the driver · CPC title

• G01C21/3407

  specially adapted for specific applications · CPC title

• G06Q10/0833

  Tracking · CPC title

• G08G1/202

  Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching · CPC title